CABLE SET TO BE ELECTRIFIED

Cross Sound Cable Co. said Monday that it plans to energize its electric transmission cable across Long Island Sound by Aug. 5, even though the cable is not buried at regulation depth in seven spots.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said that the company is trying to circumvent permit conditions established by federal and state agencies, and that he plans to go to court to block attempts to electrify the cable.

Rita Bowlby, a company spokeswoman, said the company already has approval to energize the line and has several years to finish the "last details" of the project.

"We feel that we have met all the other conditions and that the burial depth does not constitute any problem in terms of energizing," she said.

Cross Sound revealed in late May that as much as 700 feet of cable in New Haven Harbor was not laid to a depth of 48 feet below water level, as stipulated by regulators. The company was told to report to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the extent of the problem and how it might be resolved. Bowlby said the company submitted a letter Friday that also indicated the plans to electrify the cable.

Bowlby said Monday that eight sections of cable were thought to be involved, but one section since has been determined to be deep enough. In another section a tree stump blocked the cable and can be removed easily, she said. The company is analyzing what needs to be done at the other six spots.

She said the company was "a little perplexed" by Blumenthal's statement, because "we are working very closely with federal and state agencies.

"It sounds to me more a political statement than a statement of substance," she said. Bowlby insisted the cable "is safely installed out of harm's way."

The cable project, intended to carry power to Long Island, was highly controversial in the General Assembly this spring. Critics have said the project would damage sensitive fisheries while providing Connecticut utility customers with little or no benefit.